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City tells Lonestar Cheeseburger Company it must demonstrate mobility within 10 days

To move or not to move? For a San Angelo food truck, that's the question.

Timothy Condon, owner of Lonestar Cheeseburger Company, received a letter from the San Angelo/Tom Green County Health Department on July 18, 2018, telling him to demonstrate the food truck was "readily movable." Otherwise, he'd have his food truck permit revoked.

Condon said the food truck has primarily sat on the corner of Beauregard Avenue and Abe Street since it opened May 1, 2011, but travels to special events on occasion.

"We do move our trailer," he said. "We've gone to weddings, we've gone to different random parties and we've done all of those kind of things."

Anthony Wilson, public information officer for the City of San Angelo, said he would challenge Condon's claim about the truck moving. He added the city has encouraged Condon to prove the food truck's mobility for over three years.

"If he had ever moved it, that would have been a prime opportunity for him to alert us," Wilson said. "The only time it has moved was when it burned down" in 2015.

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A grease fire that got out of control damaged the Lonestar Cheeseburger Company, 333 W. Beauregard Ave., and caused minor damage to the Eskimo Hut in February 2015.(Photo: Michelle Gaitan/San Angelo Standard-Times file)

Wilson said Condon could clear all of this up if he drove Lonestar Cheesburger Company a few blocks through downtown to City Hall so public officials could note the mobile food truck is, in fact, mobile.

Condon said he doesn't move Lonestar Cheeseburger Company from his downtown location often to make it easier for his loyal customers to find him.

He says he's not the only one either. Several other San Angelo food trucks stay mostly in one predictable location, not only so customers can easily find them, but so they can comply with city ordinances.

An excerpt from a letter from the Tom Green County Health Department to Timothy Condon dated July 10, 2018.(Photo: Contributed Photo)

Wilson said he understands the logic of staying in a predictable location, but since mobile food trucks have less stringent regulations than fixed restaurants, they must demonstrate they fit squarely in that category of permits.

"Every other food truck has demonstrated mobility to us," Wilson said. "Since every other mobile food vendor has demonstrated mobility, we can't make an exception."

Condon added that if he moved, he would be leaving his legally required "commissary," which he understood to require access to bathrooms and running water.

"I can't operate unless I operate at my commissary legally," he said.

However, the city's letter to Condon stated the owner of the Eskimo Hut — which Condon uses to provide restrooms — hadn't signed a required form authorizing their use.

In the end, it may come down to a bit of legal hair-splitting. The city wants Condon to physically demonstrate his food truck is mobile, whereas Condon hopes the ability to move will be enough.

"We just have to prove that we are 'readily movable,'" Condon said. "That's what the law says, word for word."

"We are absolutely 100 percent readily movable because I could move that trailer anywhere I want in about two hours," he said. "But the thing is, is why?"

UPDATE, 6 p.m.:

Condon called a news conference Thursday afternoon to announce the creation of a San Angelo food truck coalition.

"Basically, what our goal is, is to just kind of streamline some of the questions and streamline some of the activity as far as what's legal and what's not legal in the food truck community," Condon said in the announcement.

Condon said 10 to 15 people had already signed up to join.

"All we're wanting to do is have a seat at the table with all the decision makers, City Council, all the people involved in the regulation of the food truck industry," he said.

CLOSE

Timothy Condon, owner and chef at Lonestar Cheeseburger Company, held a press conference to announce a San Angelo food truck coalition on Thursday, June 19, 2018. Directly afterward, the City of San Angelo held their own in order to explain their stance.

Directly afterwards, Wilson invited press to the city's television studio to talk about the city's letter ordering Condon to demonstrate mobility and the newly announced food truck alliance.

"It just stands to reason that one led to the other," Wilson said.

Wilson reiterated that the City of San Angelo government is interested in helping local businesses succeed and that several city employees frequently enjoy food from Lonestar Cheeseburger Company.

"At the same time, we are charged with a very weighty responsibility to ensure the public's health, safety and welfare," he said. "In this particular instance, it involves the enforcement of state laws that mobile food vendors demonstrate their mobility."

The city's attorney, Theresa James, said the city has had a lot of talks and events to help food trucks comply with state and local laws in the past, and she hopes the relationship between vendors and the city can flourish.

"I don't want anything that has happened in the last couple of days to make anybody involved in the food truck industry to think that any progress has been lost," James said. "We are moving forward, we're still excited to be working with them, and we're looking forward to that kind of progress.

Condon said he plans to appeal the San Angelo/Tom Green County Health Department's order to demonstrate his food truck's mobility and ask for a hearing on the decision.

UPDATE, July 20, 2018 5 p.m.:

Lonestar Cheeseburger Company owner Tim Condon sent an appeal letter to the City of San Angelo at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 20, 2018.

The body of the letter is as follows:

I, Tim Condon, formally request an appeal in the case regarding Lonestar Cheeseburger proving that they are “Readily Movable.” I request a public hearing to explain why, in our view, it is unclear according to the TFER whether we are required to move or as stated in the TEFER “Demonstrate we are Readily Movable.”

I would also request that an agenda item be placed on the next city council meeting (8/7) to further the conversation about what the City of San Angelo can do to insure other food truck owners have the same level of success that Lonestar Cheeseburger has achieved in the past 8 years. I respectfully look forward to beginning the conversation about food truck reform in San Angelo.

I feel with 100% conviction that it is the job of our elected officials, as opposed to their staff, to come up with solutions to benefit both the city and all of the food trucks that operate in this great town! I look forward to beginning the conversation and believe we can make this a win win for everyone involved in Food Truck Culture here in San Angelo.